Promise?
by Magicath099
Summary: "You said you'd always be there for me; you promised!" The steely gaze directed towards her fizzled as the object of her fury turned and walked away. "You promised me," Losing one family can be tough, but having little to no memory of her parents and only her distant brother to lead her along in a warring world of shinobi villages is a lonely life indeed. (**Rating may go up later)
1. 1 Beginnings

**A/N: If you've read my original post on _Promise?_ you've seen this chapter before. I thought it fitting to keep this as the introduction chapter for the revision as well, due to the fact that I actually liked this old thing. You can read it again, if you'd like, and all my new readers can as well. This is the intro to a new story, a slightly different plot line, and a new fate for our main character. Enjoy, you guys~**

* * *

Soft voices were heard from outside the darkened room, and the medical-nin who had assisted in the labor whispered gingerly for them to enter.

The first to enter was fittingly the baby's last family member, her newly made older brother. He watched in slight amusement as the baby whimpered, hands clenching and unclenching in a fascinated way. Her eyes, a glorious shade of cerulean blue that put any ocean to shame, stared at the new world with an unrivaled wonder. The next three bodies to enter, a younger adult in his early twenties as well as his other two students, merely stood at the door in an unwilling attempt to give the latest addition to the family her well-deserved space.

The young brother, perhaps eight or nine, held his hands out invitingly as he insinuated his want to clasp the newborn. The most remarkable things about the boy, I think, were his fine hair that resembled spun silver and platinum and the mask that covered his nose down and allowed only for his eternally languid sable eyes to be illuminated by the strings of light cast by the full moon.

In his bijou, yet sinewy arms, the infant nearly melted into her older brother, and he realized how frail this little girl was. A satisfaction like no other coursed through every fiber of his chakra-infused body, and he grinned down at his sister lovingly. The connection was instantaneous, and her stubby fingers outstretched to grip her older brother's hair, tightening and loosening and taking her time grasping a lock of it.

The medic-nin muttered something below hearing to the delighted father, making him pale slightly and grasp the hand of his wife whose breathing was failing her. The wise shinobi suddenly felt sullen, pallor face catching the moon's rays and reflecting his despondency, making otherwise unnoticeable wrinkles on his face shine with clarity.

"Kakashi," he suddenly murmured, "Why don't you and your teammates go into the living room? Go ahead and take your sister, she should be fine as long as you keep quiet." The masked boy nodded, his long sprouts of hair shaking on the top of his head as he did so. Tempted by the moving strands, the baby cooed as she gripped the tuft of hair that had slid in between Kakashi's eyes under his Konoha shinobi force's headband.

"_Hai otōsan(1)_," Kakashi responded honorably, gently fixing his sister's head and holding it with his gloved hand and slightly calloused fingers from his prior academy training. Behind him, two pairs of cocoa eyes stared at the infant who was currently being cradled in Kakashi's arms against his ribcage.

The bedroom they left behind was silent, the only sounds that of the pattering rain and gentle coos from the children who were speaking to the baby. The young guest, Namikaze Minato, stepped forward and placed a calm hand on the father's shoulder.

"Sakumo-san, what's wrong? Is there any way that I could help?" The pallid face shook gently, but the man cleared his throat and answered respectably to his son's sensei.

"It's alright. However, I believe I should talk to Kakashi for a while. If it is alright with you, I would also like to keep him home from training tomorrow." Minato nodded solemnly, glancing at the frail woman who had only just given birth. She looked as white as a ghost, the deep colors in her skin thinning out and causing her to appear corpse-like with the addition of her sunken cheeks and eyes. Hatake Kira, the new mother, was losing herself faster than anyone could save her. She would die within the week, the medic-nin said, due to complications in the pregnancy.

Soundlessly, the spiky-haired sensei slipped from the room and paused in front of his students. Nohara Rin was the first to notice his presence, but she said nothing as she assisted Kakashi in slipping the baby into some clothes and folded the pre-applied diaper so that it wouldn't chaff the smooth milky skin of the little girl's legs or stomach. Uchiha Obito, who had always thought of Kakashi as a rival and slight jerk, couldn't help the grin on his face as the baby held her clumsy fists out to grab for his fingers uncoordinatedly. Even if she were Kakashi's sister, Obito felt a pull on his heartstrings as she placed it into her mouth to suck on them with her toothless mouth. She was, in all sense, adorable.

"Rin, Obito, I believe it's time that we get home and leave the Hatakes alone for tonight. They'll have a lot of work to do with that new baby around," The two chunin seemed to consider this, and Rin was the first to stand and glance at the baby now in Kakashi's arms. _That baby, _she mused, _she's Kakashi's new little sister. She's so…so…precious. Maybe one day..._ It was certainly wishful yet undoubtedly hopeless thinking, she knew, but she smiled nonetheless at her thoughts and waited for Obito to stand as well before she waved goodbye and the guests left the house feeling empty.

"Kakashi, come in here." His father commanded gently, and the boy stood and slowly walked, holding his sister cautiously just in case her head grew too cumbersome for her.

"Yes, father?" He passed the unnamed baby to the older man, whom Kakashi was a miniature replica of, minus the long hair and deeply set wrinkles from his seemingly constant anxiety despite his young age. Sakumo held the child tenderly, brushing his rough hand against the soft spot of her skull lightly so as not to harm the girl. She cooed at him, drooling as she grabbed his hand awkwardly and placed it into her mouth.

"Your mother…she has been sick for a while. The stress of having a child was very taxing on her. She's going to need a lot of sleep, and it's not certain if she'll ever wake up." Kakashi nodded absentmindedly, assured by his childish belief that his mother was strong enough to persevere. He had known that his mother had been sick, he had understood that it was why she couldn't walk very far without growing tired and that was why he had to do most of the shopping, and the silver-haired boy glanced back at the baby.

"_Otōsan_, what is her name going to be?" He inquired, leaving his father at a loss for words. This had not been what he was trying to get Kakashi to understand; he had just told him that his mother would most likely die, shouldn't he have been a little more worried about his mother? But Sakumo wouldn't push the truth on him, he was merely a child-his son, who couldn't tell when a person was losing their will to live every moment.

Kira wouldn't have wanted anyone to become upset in such a situation, he was sure, but with two children to raise on his own, Sakumo felt his heart ache. He couldn't provide a mother's touch, or instincts that Kira could have when Kakashi went on missions, and he could never understand his new daughter-their new daughter-the way his wife would. Their daughter would grow up with only a father to guide her, and Sakumo was wary about being that father. The wizened parent couldn't even begin to imagine the loss Kakashi would be put through, the grief of losing the mother who had taken care of him-who had been the only constant in his new life of being a shinobi in a time of war.

He couldn't bring himself to think about the baby, who would never know her mother and would only be able to look upon her with a face of distance, a detached expression written all over her. Sakumo looked back to Kakashi's awaiting face; it was always his eyes that he used to express himself. After a moment longer spent hesitating, Sakumo sent Kakashi to bed with an excuse that he would think more about it tonight.

Of course, Kira had always fought a great deal for one name in particular, while Sakumo couldn't be budged from telling his wife that the chance to choose was entirely up to her. She wouldn't take any of that, not with the fiery attitude of hers. But already, he could see the difference between Kakashi, who had been a relatively quiet baby who had only wanted to sleep, and this little girl who had been much too curious to shut her eyes yet. She only quieted down after a few minutes of coddling on her father's part.

_Akari_, he pondered over the name. Kira couldn't seem to let go of it. _Hatake Akari, the light to my wife's darkness. The new life in this death. A ward to keep away her mother's demons. Yes, it does seem fitting._

"Hm, do you like that, little Akari?" But the baby was asleep, her hands clenched to hide the symbols that burned their way to her hands with a red light not unlike bioluminescent plasma. Two overlapping diamonds each appeared on her left and right palms, one as dark as evil while the other was bloody red and looked as if the flesh had been peeled away to leave the mark. Akari whimpered in her sleep, but it went unnoticed by her father, who stared at his wife in a longing sense that he wished she would wake up to look at her daughter.

Akari. She would be so proud.

Hatake Akari…the light in darkness.

If only he knew.

* * *

**A/N: So, to my new readers: I'd like to see what you think about this. Should I make this new thing work, or just stop before I make this whole thing get out of hand? I won't be posting extremely often-perhaps once every other week, or so-but I can keep making progress with it if you want to read. I also have a better idea of what I want from this (however, if I'll actually keep it going the same way is the biggest question). Anywho, I'll get to work on the next chapter if you're willing to give this a chance, and I'll see you during the next installment!**

**(1)**_****__Otōsan_-**means father**


	2. 2 Comings and Goings

**I'm not dead! I am, however, really sorry for making anyone wait for this-I'm afraid that with all the big changes from one school to the next, homework, and then afterschool activities, yadda yadda yadda, I haven't exactly had much time to write this except at two in the morning and then weekends. And it's not exactly fun getting three hours of sleep every night. Starting out the story in a mystery person's point of view (First the blonde chick who kinda kidnapped Akari in the first revision, who will also make an appearance here because her role is absolutely HUGE, and now this new chick? Hm, lots of mystery people in here. Why? Because why not!). Anywho~**

**I'd love to thank those of you who have followed me here, especially my ever-faithful drakonic13. Also, it has been brought to my attention that ships and pairings are already being formed in this without my knowledge? Well, I need ideas for who you think Akari should date, etc. Of course I already know who _I _am going to pair her with, but your say is important to me as my lovely readers! You can put your answers in your reviews and make me happy with a bit of input, too!**

**Anywho, on with the main event!**

* * *

Feet pounding on the ground. Leg muscles clenching as her lithe form slipped between each and every obstacle, whether root, kunai, or otherwise. Her dark locks were sticking to her face like the sweat that drenched it, and she pulled herself closer so that she could conceal herself beneath the safety of her stolen cloak.

The very trees were working for her enemies, as their fingers clutched her arms and clawed at her feet, tripping her up every other step she took away from the warzone she had not quite fled from. She had nothing left in the place she had once called home, not even a family or an actual home to escape to. Everything was gone back there, in the pinpricks of what had once been her village that dotted the bleary horizon like the stars in the hazy night sky.

She glanced, unafraid of the darkness that lingered around her and pushed her forward like a comforting friend. It had always guided her before. Besides, fear wasn't stocked up on in her emotional bank-more than likely, it had been replaced by whatever foolish arrogance had caused her to run in the first place. How was she, the smallest child in the village, supposed to escape from professionally-trained shinobi who were hot on her trail? Sure she had been the fastest kid around, but that didn't make up for the lack of skill and experience she had compared to the ninja hunting her.

Stumbling around in the night, scrabbling around and fondling the surrounding foliage for a break in the forest's line of defense. Escape hadn't seemed this problematic in her head-it was a simple long-winded sprint to the nearest village, after all. Having not taken into account how her precious sentimentalities would weigh her down, she had burst from the unruly crowds of people and fled past the borders of the old village. She would surely pay for this haughtiness in exhaustion, blind pain, and nightmare-ridden dreams.

Oh well, it wasn't as if those hadn't been part of her everyday life beforehand. Perhaps with a new village, she could have a new name-a new face, even. And if anyone ever found her, she could move elsewhere and start over again. She wouldn't have any loyalties, or any ties to cling onto from anywhere or anyone.

A kunai scraped the very outside layer of her cheek-or had it been a branch? Either way, it forced her to shake her head and sprint ahead to rid herself of the threat of following shinobi. She couldn't have her mind running elsewhere while she plowed into some tree, especially when she was being pursued. Not only would it most likely render her unconscious at such a speed, making it only that much easier for her trackers to drag her back, but it would be excruciatingly humiliating having been the very cause of her own failure.

"There she is!" A voice called out not too far behind her at a slight angle to the right. She scoffed indignantly, wondering how green they allowed their shinobi to be out in the field, or if it had just been a spur of the moment burst of pride in her comparable lack of professional skill as she had been spotted. Allowing your target to locate your position was a horrible move in any case, whether it was a rookie's mistake or an illustration of her lack of prowess.

She darted to the left, pulling off the gloves that concealed her marked palms and formed the inimitable handsigns passed down from generation to generation in her village. The world erupted into darkness for those who followed her, and even the gleaming stars became pitch black as they bled out and became one with the sky. A layer of darkness coated her, and she listened cautiously as her captors cursed audibly in the branches of trees. Even the thin shadows cast by the luminous full moon were blotted out and the eyes of the effected shinobi were as good as useless.

Perhaps her superciliousness would turn into a fruitful endeavor for her, as she continued on in her half-blinded state from the jutsu. Maybe there would be something worth running to when she arrived wherever it was she was heading.

* * *

Although the room was lacking in people, a cheery banter spread throughout the few who had shown up to attend the party. A little girl sat in a chair, arms crossed as she mindlessly listened in on the conversation that the relaxed man across the room from her was having with another dark-haired girl, perhaps ten years old. Another black-haired boy who sat beside her, goggles hiked up into his hair, constantly tried to butt in with his two cents. Almost every time he found himself unable to keep up with the other two shinobi.

"Bito-nii, I want to play," The little girl whined, uncurling her limbs and tugging on his arm. She didn't even get a second glance from him. Intent on getting some sort of attention from the older boy, she pulled his goggles from his spiky hair and placed them on top of her face upside down while her lips turned into something crookedly amusing and her eyes crossed in a way that usually caused him to laugh. Well, if he had even been looking at her in the first place.

"Obito," she dragged his name out, leaning over the arm of her chair to tap him on the shoulder. Her slightly chubby legs stretched all the way out, and her arm had to extend to reach him, but it was a small price to pay to get him to pay her attention. It _was _her birthday, after all. Shouldn't she deserve some sort of responsiveness over Rin for one day?

"Hush, Akari." Was his hasty reply, muttered to her under his breath as he turned away from her to the otherwise undisturbed discussion being held by his sensei and teammate. Akari recoiled at that, giving him the nastiest glare she could muster at the age of four, before flopping back onto her chair with an ungraceful grunt.

"Stupid Obito-nii. All I wanted was for him to play tag with me, _ne_?" Akari picked at the fabric of the cushioned chair. Truthfully, she found it uncomfortable and rather unsightly with its hideously archaic (and now so worn that it was hardly discernable) floral pattern. However, it was the only place that she had found room once Rin arrived and Obito walked in about an hour later under false pretenses of showing up for her birthday party.

She doubted he had even remembered-his memory was that of a squirrel's on caffeine. Obito had probably just visited because Rin had said she'd be there at that time, and he wanted to "coincidentally stop by" at the same time as her. It was always the same thing when there was Rin in the picture.

So Akari would sit in her chair and hope that the fiery-tempered woman in the kitchen would either hurry up or actually let her help finish frosting the cake without chastising her for licking the icing off of the spreading knife. If anything, she should be able to eat whatever she wanted for her birthday, especially since her own family-her very flesh and blood-hadn't shown up for the party. It should be their way of making things up to her by paying attention to her and treating her like nobility. Instead, they were politely disputing which attack strategy could utilize an ambush the best; gawking at another girl; and angrily slapping icing onto a birthday cake.

At least with Kakashi, she knew he'd pay at least a bit of attention to her-even if he acted rather distant or aloof. It didn't matter either way; Akari missed her big brother whenever he went on these solo missions without his usual team. He was her only family left, and once upon a time he had been the person she venerated the most. Of course, that was before _the incident_, when everything was okay at home and she actually felt loved-which had all been a long time ago now.

It was okay since she was officially a big girl now-no more crying, like Kakashi told her. She'd have to grow up someday, he'd said, and maybe by growing up things would be better. Maybe they could go back to being a big brother and a little sister, instead of vaguely mentioned family member and standoffish older shinobi. Maybe Kakashi would even tuck her in again, and he could sing her papa's lullaby like he would when papa had gone out on missions of his own. They could pretend he had only gone on a little trip, and that he'd be back soon, and that they didn't have to live with Minato-jisan and Kushina-bachan, and that they were orphans without anywhere else to go other than this incommodious house.

And they could go eat ice cream on Saturday, play tag with their friends on Fridays, drop her off at the Academy on Monday mornings, laze around instead of doing work after school and missions, go visit the river on Sundays and read books when they had free time. And they'd see Obito and Rin (separately for attention-seeking purposes) and then Akari would introduce him to her only friend from school and they'd all get along and be happy together.

Children dream beyond whatever reality they face ahead, I suppose. Such resilience isn't found in adults or anyone else who lacks such a childish innocence. Ignorance is bliss, they say.

* * *

"Excuse me, young man, but you have to pay for that." The pudgy woman sharply murmured, causing the teenaged boy scanning the shelves to direct his stony gaze at the clerk.

"I know. Seeing how this is a store, I would guess that you'd have to pay for _anything _in here. That is how it works, isn't it?"

"Listen kid, I didn't ask for your smartass response. I've been working here fourteen hours straight, and I can tell when a kid can't afford nothing here. That shelf is too much for a little boy to pay for, 'specially a snot-nosed brat. I suggest you kindly leave before I call the police." The silver-haired boy scoffed, picking up the items he had previously eyed before prying out his stuffed wallet and slamming a stack of money on the counter the woman worked at.

"Keep the change," he muttered, grabbing a coarse brown bag from the end of the wooden counter; shoving his purchases into it. "Nice to do business with you." His voice carried every hint of irony that he could drone out, glowering at her agape mouth with distaste. This had been the first-and last-time he visited a store in this little ramshackle village on the outskirts of the Land of Fire, but he needed something to eat after having run low on his food pills and Rin would kill him if he didn't take his diet seriously. Not that he actually cared what she thought of him; he really just wanted to spare himself the scolding he'd get from her for not taking care of his nutrition.

He knew she had a bit of a crush on him, but it was puppy love if anything else. And rather unrequited, at that. Rin could depend on his strength, and there was nothing else to her emotions-nothing deeper that he could've missed, because he had specifically spaced himself from them so that he wouldn't get attached. There was no way she could actually love him.

But whatever, it didn't matter anyway. He had to get back to Konoha to report to the Hokage about his recon mission, and then he could sleep for the rest of the week before diving back into his missions and training.

Akari may have passed through his head once or twice, but only as a fleeting thought as he unloaded and organized the contents of his purchases and slim inventory. One oblong object remained in the thick paper bag, and he quickly stuffed the leftover papers into it as well to free up his hands as his bag was shifted onto his shoulders.

He had just a bit more to travel before arriving back in Konoha-maybe a bit after midnight, unless he could sprint the whole way there. Oh well, who needed legs to sleep anyway?

"Happy birthday to you!" The others sang, each beaming at the little girl who stared at the cake as if it were the most interesting thing she had ever seen. Really, she just wanted to lick the whole thing clean of its icing-but that would be frowned upon, especially when Obito was just as excited to eat the cake as she was. She didn't want him to be disappointed because she got her spit all over it and he couldn't eat it.

"Blow out the candles, Akari." Uncle Minato gently urged, watching her grin sheepishly before the four flickering candles burned out. Obito jumped in as the first one to speak.

"What'd you wish for?" He implored, eyes shimmering with a curiosity that made her giggle as she shook her head feverishly. Basking in the attention that was showered upon her was one of her favorite hobbies.

"Not telling! It won't come true then!" In all actuality, she had forgotten to make a wish and was hoping that it was alright if she were a bit lacking in punctuality this once as she hastily screwed her eyes shut and began to demand her wishes mentally. _I wish that me and Kashi-nii can be best friends again. Oh, and that Obito pays more attention to me. That would be good too._

"Alright, it's time to open presents Akari." Rin's smile could blind anyone as she directed her beam at Akari. She mentally cursed with every awful word she could scrounge up as she found herself unable to _not_ smile back at Rin's absurd joy. It was so hard to hate someone like her, who was always so happy for everyone. It only made Akari want to despise her even more.

"Here-open mine first, Akari-chan! It's the purple one with black stripes!" How had she known that purple was her favorite color? Stupid Rin with her stupid niceness and stupid good-natured soul.

"It's really heavy," the girl noted, picking it up from the floor to drag it closer to her chair. She began peeling off the wrapping paper, discovering a large cardboard box as her fingers swiped at the tape and pried it open.

Clothes. Not even regular shirts and pants, either. Inside were dresses and skirts and too-pretty-to-train-in shirts that would decay in her closet after the years she wouldn't wear them. Frilly things weren't her style, in case Rin hadn't noticed her worn out t-shirt and shorts. Kushina identified that bitterly downcast look that Akari shot at the box of clothes, and jumped to the rescue before anything could be said about the brunette's poor choice in gifts.

"Thank you so much, Rin. Akari's gone through a growth spurt, and her old clothes are starting to get too small for her, you know. Let's see what's in there, Akari." The little girl frowned, pulling out each and every lacey dress, frilled skirt, pleated blouse, until the bottom revealed itself to her with two small gifts that seemed to stick to the brown cardboard. Two black items that stuck out from the other pink and green clothes because of their differences.

Akari picked up the gloves, worn and black and without a trace of girly fabric on them with their simple design and intricate cutouts on the back filled in with black lace-which was so much better used like this than anything else that had been in the box. She immediately tugged them on over the thin cloth bandages that covered her hands, grinning at them while the other clothes sat dejected on the floor.

Rin laughed at the fact that the four-year old had taken a liking to her old gloves. She had gotten them from one of her uncles as a present when she had become a chunin, but they were much too dark for her tastes. It would suit Akari's fiery personality well, not to mention the fact that they could mask those unsightly bandages on her hands.

"Thanks, Rin-chan," she chirped, almost able to shoot a smile at the brunette. Obito glanced at the girl beside him, wanting to make himself known and visible to her.

"Open mine next, Akari! It's the black bag over there," she quickly fetched the bag, eager to see what she had gotten from Obito. The bag wasn't as heavy as Rin's overstuffed box, but as she pulled the crinkly white tissue paper from the package her eyes widened as a beam crossed her face.

"Candy!" she grinned, glancing at the packs of artificially flavored, tooth-rotting sweets. All of her favorite bubble gum, chocolate-everything was in there. "Thanks, Bito-nii!"

"All right, all right. Yeah, it _was _a pretty good gift right? The best for my Akari-chan," She giggled, picking up another curious gift. It must've been from Minato and Kushina, with the former having wrapped it by the looks of the wrinkled paper and messy taping skills.

Inside was something that made her whole face shine, especially when she recognized the object that sat on the top of the pile. Her stuffed fox, the toy she'd had for as long as she could remember, stared up at her. It was neatly washed, and the stitches that had loosened up with her constant holding it and the tears that had begun to form in the fabric were dexterously sewn so that you could never tell they had been there in the first place.

Beneath the fox laid a pile of books: a stunning array of everything from picture books to chapter books, all brand new without the edges of them worn from other people having touched them. And they were _hers_.

"Thanks _jisan_ and _bachan_! I love them," Minato grinned.

"I'm glad."

"And now you won't have to be going to the library after school so much and staying out so late." Kushina added lightly, her mood swinging worse than any pendulum there ever was. Pregnancy hormones were fiercely attached to moods.

"Mhm," Akari's hum answered, as she dove into the box and pulled out a simple picture book, setting her stuffed animal on her lap. "I wanna have cake now."

"Then cake you shall have! Let's eat," Obito exclaimed, generating a rather cheerful reply from the others.

* * *

Her socked feet made little noise other than the typical thunk down the wooden staircase. She yawned, rubbing at her tired eyes as her stuffed animal trailed behind her. It must've been well past midnight, because she could hear Minato and/or Kushina (she really couldn't tell who was the loudest anymore) snoring. Which also meant that they were fast asleep, something that should be occurring to her.

Insomnia, or something like that: it was what the doctor had called it during her yearly checkup when he'd noticed the dark circles under her eyes. It meant something about sleep, specifically not being able to fall asleep. It had been like this for a while, her waiting until she could hear their snores-which, based on the clock in her room, usually happened a little past midnight. She'd sneak down into the living room, and pick out something to do; usually something to watch.

It was usually the moon outside. She'd been watching the moon starve itself for the past few days, watching it grow thinner and thinner before it began feasting and widened itself once more.

Other times, she'd simply try to point out things she thought were constellations. Akari'd connect a few dots here, some others there, and her imagination would bring about a horse, chicken, pig-whatever she could think up.

She may draw a bit, with the pencil she'd unintentionally stolen from Kaoru-sensei but would never return to school. So far, she hadn't been his major suspect and she intended to stay out of the line of fire until she graduated. That trouble business was more for people who didn't have anything else to go on in school; people who weren't about to get out of there and become an actual shinobi. They were kids who had no skills other than making messes and ruining missions. Or at least, that's what Kakashi told her when she'd asked why they created mischief.

Then again, why should she listen to Kakashi? Where was he now, on her fourth birthday? Well, she knew the answer of course: he was on a mission of some sort. He'd known there would be a miniscule chance that he'd get back to even tell her 'Hello' or 'Good morning.' It didn't matter anyway, he hadn't exactly worked as a good big brother for the past few years.

If anything, it would've made things awkward if he'd shown up tonight-not only for her, but Obito, who would do anything to steal Rin's attention away from her older brother; Rin, who would prove to him that she was worth his love; Minato, who'd be wary of the two boys and their previous scuffles; and Kushina, who was pregnant and therefore always worrying.

"Still," she murmured beneath her breath, "It wouldn't have hurt him to have shown up to wish me a happy birthday. He's always forgetting about me, and leaving me behind, and he never even talks to me when he's here. It's always missions."

There had been lots of doctors visiting them after they moved in with Minato-jisan and Kushina-bachan. Most were the kind that they had to be taken to and they put a stethoscope to your lungs and made you breathe in and out. However, some were the kind that asked lots of questions. Those were the ones that made Akari mad, especially after she'd seen them ask Kakashi things. _Private _things; things that Kakashi should've never told anyone but her. It wasn't any of their business to ask how they felt, it wasn't their business to make Kakashi angry and distant and bitterly cold-but they did anyway.

They called her outbursts "Violent Displays of Grief," and she had seen them write it down so many times that she had been able to remember the letters. She'd carved them into her drawings before, and Minato-jisan had woken up before he was supposed to and had spotted her writing it. She hadn't known what it meant, but his face had been shocked to see it on her paper in her loose scrawl. There hadn't been any more doctors since then.

A knock dragged her from her thoughts, and she quickly padded over to the window, clutching her stuffed animal to her chest tightly at the thought of a burglar. The door handle rattled a bit, before it clicked and opened.

She couldn't believe her eyes.

"Kashi?" His shoulders shook as he caught his air, and his face was streaked red from running in the wintry winds. His breath led him through the door, and Akari shivered at the frozen gust that buried itself into her bones. Grinning softly, her older brother shut the door noiselessly before placing a bag beside the entry. He heaved a few deep breaths before lowering his mask from his nose and mouth to breathe without the filter it provided.

"You should be asleep."

"Where were you?"

"None of your business. Go back to your room and go to sleep." She frowned, pursing her bottom lip as she crossed her arms.

"No. I want to know why you weren't here for my birthday. Obito and Rin showed up, but you were s'posed to be here."

"Go to sleep, Akari."

"Where were you!?"

"It's none of your business! Now quiet down before you wake the whole village up; don't you know it's past midnight? And you have to go to the Academy tomorrow for exams, you need sleep so that you can do well."

"You even missed my birthday party! You don't care about me, and you never did."

"Akari, stop being a self-centered brat for once and think about what I've been doing for the past week. I'm going upstairs to take a shower, and then I'm going to get some rest. By the way, feel free to look in the bag if you're curious." She frowned, sitting back onto the cushions of the couch as Kakashi passed by the chair on his way up the stairs. Kitsune-y, her stuffed fox, glared at the silver-haired brother critically, reflecting her owner's hard, undiluted glower.

Did he really think he could get to her so easily? Burst in unexpected at dusk, sweep upstairs-still without a single birthday wish, albeit the fact that technically her birthday was over-and then just expect her to listen to his every whim? Well, she certainly wasn't going to give him that satisfaction!

Even if she were curious-and she most certainly was _not_-she wouldn't give him the pleasure of seeing her stony resolve crumble to dust. No matter how intrigued she was by the brown bag which he had left there and practically _invited _her to peek into, she refused to look simply because it was what he wanted of her. Akari was much too stubborn to look into the extremely important bag that her brother had left behind. Much too strong to ever crack in such a way. Besides, if he had even wanted her to check it out, he would've specifically told her in a way that wasn't as vague as _'You can look if you'd like…'_

Who was she kidding? This bag was an enigma that she needed solved before she could even think about doing anything else. It was a Rubik's Cube that she couldn't leave unfinished, and a surprise that her very own big brother-her actual one, not Obito-had given to her! Her big brother Kakashi, who had never even tried to hold a conversation with her past the time when she was two and could hardly walk but he insisted she learn how to climb trees with her miniscule chakra trace. Kakashi, who had scolded her and watched her cry after she scraped her knees on the gravel when she was running from stall to stall on one of the many market streets of Konoha. Kakashi who, given the first chance, had dumped her here in the arms of his sensei instead of staying home and taking care of her like a good big brother should have. Kakashi, who was the opposite of her beloved Obito and had never seemed to care about her beyond the curt "_Hmm,_" after she related her exceeding scored in school to him.

What could he have put in that bag for her to see?

The sound of water hitting the tile of their shared half bathroom shattered her reverie and dragged her attention, while kicking and screaming, back to the bag. She bit her lip, a nervous habit she had grown accustomed to over the past two years. If she just peered over the edge, she wouldn't really be listening to him, would she? And anyway, he was upstairs in the shower now, and there was no way he could find her snooping through it. There was no way he could even find out.

The papers on top were dragged out with a rugged scraping noise, and it took a bit for the balled up textiles to reveal a snapshot of what was underneath-the thing Kakashi had hidden from her. The first thing she saw was dark brown, and then there were flashes of icy blue and white. She decided that this wasn't enough to decide what was down there, and pulled the object out cautiously.

"A doll?" she whispered, brushing the hair out of the other little girl's face. The body was fabric stuffed with something that felt like cotton from the outside, but the face was plastic and surreal. She wore a shirt made from the same fabric as her body, but it was a frosty-colored shirt with elongated shapes of ivory birds that stretched through it like a spider's silk on a backdrop of the pale wintry sky outside. Her electric eyes were reflected back in the doll's blue orbs, though her straight bangs almost hid them from view. It was perhaps the most beautiful thing she had seen, and she wondered why Kakashi had it with him.

It occurred to her suddenly, and she mentally berated herself for being so stupid. It was obviously her birthday present, and that was all just Kashi's halfhearted way to tell her happy birthday. Of course she wouldn't get it straight from him; that just wasn't how he went about things. Not with her, at least. Not about things that mattered.

But she smiled to herself sheepishly, and held the doll closer to her while stifling a yawn with her hand. It was well past midnight, and though she was tired there was no way she could find sleep now. The excitement from the surprise and the shock of what it was had invigorated her, but now that the mystery was over a wave of drowsiness washed over her like the night had cleared out the sun and the silvery clouds had covered the moon. She could hardly sit down before falling asleep, clutching Kitsune-y and her new doll to her tightly. It seemed that her constant insomnia had caught up to her, and with the lack of adrenaline and nothing to do, she slipped off into a fitful slumber.

* * *

_Running, _the dark-haired girl thought to herself, dodging a branch that reached out to clash against her face with its spindly fingers. _It just had to be running. Why can't we all just let the little girl go without having to pursue her? That smokescreen I created was supposed to have worked, and I guess it confused their sight but still…they can't really rely on their sight in the first place if it's dark out here._

_Please let there be somewhere for me to stay up here. I need a safe haven before I slow down any more than I am right now. It's so hard to keep a constant pace for so long, and I think my cover's about to be blown if I can't find somewhere…_

Tendrils of dawn etched their way up into the night's sky, ascending from the eastern horizon in front of her. It cracked the darkness of the night, like a tree root skillfully yet sluggishly cracking open a rock. With her night warmth and familiarity evaporating into thin air, it wouldn't take much more for them to catch a firm pinpoint on her and snatch her back. And then…

She frowned, ruby lips tilting downwards as it did when she chastised herself. Those thoughts were _not _going to help her when she still had a chance. Maybe if she continued thinking positively, she could have a shot at actually making it. If she traveled east long enough, there would be another village that she would run into and maybe someone would take her in there. She could only hope that someone would be kind enough to allow a shady immigrant such as herself in their home for food and shelter, and maybe even a bath. She could definitely use one after this run. And maybe some new clothes, too.

_Kami, mom's gonna be so mad when she realizes I made a break for it. And dad would kill me if I ever showed my face around there again. _She internally grumbled, _But at least this'll be one hell of a story to tell my kids…_

* * *

**A/N: So what'd you think? I know it might've been a bit confusing, but don't worry because I plan on explaining!**

**...Eventually.**

**Which brings me to my next big topic: My updates won't be very frequent or regular since I have school and it takes me a while to make these chapters worthwhile instead of crappy. It might pick up a bit more after September because I'll be done with my sport for the year, but that's me being hopeful that my schoolwork doesn't pile up. I'll try my best to update, though, and I _WILL_** **_NOT_****abandon this story. Mark my words, I will continue this if it kills me.**

**Hope y'all enjoyed!^^**


	3. 3 Fate's Call

**A/N: In general, I'd like to thank my beautiful readers who have stuck with me through this time.**

**I'd like to thank the following for favoriting this story:**

**kiasairen**

**time-twilight**

**I'd especially like to thank these for following this story:**

**CheddarLord**

**Crimson Ribbon**

**Vandar93**

**watchingtherain1**

**And my two lovely, amazing readers who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story:**

**ShikiUploadz**

**drakonic13**

**Now, on with the show~**

* * *

_Akari remembered this room. She felt the coarse, wooden wall with her fingertips, breathing in as if she could smell the memories. Her shoulders slumped as she walked forward silently, looking down at the light from the windows. The floor, with four illuminated squares, was also wooden, though the boards were smoother so as to not splinter and hurt small, bare feet. The room was empty, devoid of life and furniture alike, and the shinobi in the center of it all kneeled down to touch the floor. Her small hands traced the figure of a human on the ground, a man. And suddenly the man was there, with deep gashes in his stomach and a sword beside him that Akari knew too well. A sabre that shouldn't have been used for the purpose it had been for that night._

_A young girl stood in a pool of blood that was going to stain the floor crimson-brown. She didn't move, just looked at the man before her who looked asleep instead of dead. There was no way he could be dead. He had tucked her in the night before, sang her a lullaby, told her he loved her, and left her to sleep. This man, whose face was twisted in a painful sort of peaceful agony, couldn't be her father._

_The child was barely a toddler, yet she looked upon the face of death with an almost languid expression. Akari didn't have a clue why such a young girl was looking upon her dead father with such a transfixed expression as she donned. Her eyes dimmed with unshed tears and the buildup eventually spilled the salty water down her cheeks._

_How did Akari know this? Because that little girl, barely a toddler, was her just a little over a year ago. And suddenly Kakashi stood beside her, holding back tears as well as he could, because that was what they taught them in the academy. Their father, Sakumo Hatake, had taken his own life as they slept restfully in their respective beds, only to wake up and find him here in the middle of the night, lying in a pool of his own blood and strewn-out intestines. The White Light Chakra Sabre, the very one he had used hardly days beforehand to defend his team of shinobi, was stained deep red, and looked almost as black as death. The boy, whose hair shimmered silver in the dank light streaming in from the full moon through the window, reached down to pick up the short tantō carefully, letting the blood that hadn't dried slide off of the blade slowly, like the thick medicine-syrup they gave you when you weren't feeling good._

_She crawled on the floor through the stained blood, into her father's arms and locking herself in his embrace. It was cold. Appallingly, gruesomely, callously, and utterly wretchedly cold._

_The scene changed once again to another memory she loathed. The wind howled at the figures like a beggar, incessantly prompting for change while the forms clad in inky robes somberly prayed to the newly dug tombstone. A picture of the silver-haired man sat behind the gravesite. The one directly beside it had recently been mended, as the ruby paint which had once marked a still-living husband was finally washed away to show his death as well. After two brief years of being separated, the two would once again be united; though this time in the afterlife._

_Two children, as that was all that they were, stood at the front of the mourning crowd. Each person had either come to apologize for their wrong-doings to the recently deceased shinobi, or to pay their respects to the buried man before them. It shouldn't have ended this way. Most of the guilt fell upon those in the crowd—who had unwittingly caused the death of an honorable man and the orphaning of two bright young children—but it didn't change anything. It shouldn't have ended this way._

_A cherub of a girl, hardly even a toddler in respect of age, wiped at her teary eyes as she tried to understand everything. Her tiny hand reached up for her older brother's, seeking solace from the wind that blew away everything in her and left her feeling hollow and confused._

_"__Kashi-nii…why'd they put papa in that hole? Don't they know he can't get out if they covered it back up?" The older boy recoiled at the feeling of her touch, creating distance between the two siblings physically and mentally. He didn't want to explain this, and she was too young to understand anyway. But, being that he was her big brother and last family member, the explanation was left up to him._

_"__He's not going to come out of that hole, Akari." She turned to his answer, searching his face with shock plainly written across her features. From the slightly opened mouth which formed an 'o' to her widened eyes that reminded Kakashi of the look that a wild animal gets when it knows a hunter is close. His little sister was staggered, and fear carved her face into a grimace._

_"__But he promised he'd take me somewhere special for my birthday this year, and he said he'd get me bubblegum ice cream on Saturday, and that we could stay up late and play games and then train tomorrow, plus he's still got missions to do! He can't stay down there!"_

_"__Akari." Kakashi warned, arms tensing at the nuisance that his sister was becoming. Why couldn't she just understand and stay quiet for once in her life? Didn't she realize that everyone else was remaining soundless for a reason? "He's dead. He's never coming out of that grave again because he just can't, understand?"_

_But she couldn't say she did, not when she didn't understand it at all. A lump had formed in her throat, and she hardly had the room to breathe let alone answer her brother. Her father wasn't supposed to be in the ground, not when his work wasn't finished. He couldn't just leave like that, without even so much as a goodbye or anything of the likes. Wasn't he the greatest shinobi ever? Wasn't he supposed to fulfill all the promises he made to send her off when she started school at the Academy, to be there for her when she graduated, to watch each and every promotion until she reached the top of her line, to have ice cream on Saturdays, to teach her how to use those handsigns to master her fire release; didn't he promise that he would be there?_

_Now Kakashi said she wouldn't ever see him again and he wouldn't be able to wish her good luck on her very first mission, or to help her with lessons she didn't understand, or to tuck her in at night, or to sing her anymore lullabies to help her go to sleep, or to make her feel better after she hurt herself climbing trees..._

_He was gone. Not the same kind of gone as going-on-a-mission-and-coming-back gone, but gone for good. She hadn't even gotten to tell him that she loved him, even if it was applied knowledge. Now she couldn't see him smile at one of her ridiculously illogical jokes, or laugh with her and Kakashi when they tried cooking and almost burnt the kitchen, and she'd never even gotten to tell him goodbye._

_It was too late for any of that now. Too late to change his mind, to make him see reason, to fight whatever it was that had caused this to happen. She had felt her papa's taciturn arms as she cradled herself in them; felt his own blood as she crouched down to hug him goodnight. Somewhere in her, she had known that he wouldn't wake up again—an innate instinct that she tried to stave off with reason. Her papa couldn't leave, it didn't make any sense._

_She found herself bawling before she could even remember that it was only a dream, and her hands covered up the tears that she shed. They trickled like rivers down her cheeks before joining the ground in droplets like rain. Akari shook in her self-pity, crumpling into the earth like a wilting flower as her tears fell down her face. Kakashi didn't spare her a second glance as he did his best to keep his eyes trained on the gravestone and fought off his own miserable feelings._

_Eventually, however, his eyes wandered over the crowd fanned out to his right and left, and Akari's quivering form caught his dark eyes._

_"__Get up and stop crying." Kakashi murmured to her, causing her to glance up at him disconcertedly as she wiped her tears from her face. It did her no good as new ones came to replace them, and her constant whimpering wasn't leaving her any room to ask him questions to his meaning._

_"__Get up, Akari." His voice held an edge, and it cut her from the inside out like a poison that worked its way through her and wrecked her in the process. "Stop being such a baby and stand up."_

_"__B-but I-I-I d-don't-t thi-ink I-I ca-an," A glare was shot at her, and hit her full-on. Kakashi had never treated her like this before, so why—when she needed comfort the most—was he this distant and cold towards her now?_

_"__I don't care if you don't think you can, I'm telling you to stand up and stop your crying." Obito, who had stood behind the siblings and seen the pitiable scene with the rest of Kakashi's team, stepped forward to Akari's defense._

_"__Kakashi, you stop being so hard on her; you just lost your dad, how're you supposed to react to that?! She's just a little girl, and you can't expect her to—"_

_"__Stay out of this Obito." An unknown tone of voice was used to address him, and Akari found herself petrified in the bewilderment of it. Kakashi had always referred and spoken to his teammates kindly before now, so was this how he would rid himself of his grief?_

_"__'T's fine, Bito-kun. I'm okay, and 't's not a big deal. Nii-tan's right, I shouldn't be crying. Papa wouldn't have wanted me to cry, and 'sides I'm not a baby anyways. I'll be okay, but thank you." A quaint smile cowered on her lips, twitching as she fought back the next wave of tears and demanded that it stay still. She couldn't look frail in front of her big brother, he was already mad at her for something and that would only make it worse. And anyway, she didn't want Kakashi to get mad at Obito for something she had done._

_"__I…I think I'n just sleepy." But thanks anyways, Bito-kun._

_"__Well then maybe I should walk you home." I should probably make sure that Kakashi isn't going to get mad at you for anything._

_"__No, I wanna go home alone." Please don't offer help, I can do this by myself. Besides, I don't think Kashi-nii will do anything rash._

_"__I insist; a little girl like you shouldn't be wandering the streets on your own. I just want to make sure that you get there okay," Don't shut me out, I only want to help you._

_With a sigh, Akari acquiesced. Kakashi had been silent through the whole exchange, and neither child could bring themselves to look at him. A thought popped into her mind, that maybe Kakashi was more affected by this than anyone had previously been able to tell. Another assumption that he wasn't even paying attention anymore pressed her to turn to Obito and begin walking away._

_"__I'm sure everything'll work out all right soon enough, Kari-chan. It'll get back to normal before you know it!" She nodded, but it was a distant and vague effect that Obito had to shove aside._

_How can everything work out and get back to normal now? Without papa…and Kakashi acting like he hates me…I can't go back home. It just won't be the same without them the way things used to be. Being tucked in at night, I'll be all alone. When I finally get to go to the Academy, I'll be alone. When I become a full shinobi, I might have a team, but my papa, mama, and niitan are all gone._

_I'm…_

_I'm alone…_

_"__Just remember, you'll always have big brother Obito! I'll take care of you, even when Kakashi acts like a jerk," His attempts at cheering her up forced a meek grin from her, and she held her hand out to the genin, motioning for him to take it and lead her back home._

_"__Promise?" The faint echo of a question came from the frail little girl, who wiped her face with the back of her black sleeve. Obito smiled down at her, picking up her other hand and nodding resolutely._

_"__Promise. Rin and I'll be here for you, and Minato-sensei too. You're our friend, Akari-chan, and don't forget it." Akari felt her hair being rustled by the older boy, and something was placed on top of her head as she looked up with her tear-stained cheeks. Her empty hand reached up to touch the smooth surface of what Obito had given her, and as her fingers slid across the surface she felt rough cloth scratch at her fingertips. Obito's goggles were missing from his face, and she could see the shining orbs of mica that belonged to the Uchiha as he grinned down at her. She flushed, though Akari nodded anyway and tightened her grip on his hand._

_"__Thanks Obito-nii,"_

* * *

"Minato," Kushina murmured, lifting her head and rubbing her weary eyes. She scoffed at her husband, who was still sleeping soundlessly. "Minato, wake up."

"Mm, five more minutes…" He groaned in pain as Kushina slit her eyes and whacked the back of his head. "Okay! Okay, what is it? Ow, when did you even get that strong?"

"Sh!" she cut him off chastely, "Do you hear that?" A moment of inquisitive silence commenced, and Minato sat to hear it better.

"Is that Akari?" he wondered aloud, pushing the comforter off his legs to stand up and pull a shirt on over his chest. Kushina grunted as she pushed herself from the warm bed, the very beginnings of a baby bump causing her difficulty at the odd balance of weight it caused. Her head spun wildly. Minato was already out the door before she could get him to help her up, but she shook the feeling away and suffered through it.

When she finally made it through the doorway, she saw Akari laying on the couch. She sounded like she was hiccupping, which meant she was having nightmares if the previous encounters with her like this were anything to go by. Minato placed one of his hands under her sideways head, catching her hair even though she didn't seem to notice. His other went under her back, and he held her against his chest while her head lay on his shoulder. She had been crying, from what Kushina could make of the agitated red flesh around and below her tightly-shut eyes. Akari whimpered.

"Minato, I don't think she should sleep in here by herself. We've tried everything we can, but nothing seems to work. It's heartless making her suffer like this." The little girl seemed to be settling down now that she had reached the comfort of someone's arms. Being cradled wasn't something she had experienced often, especially since the incident with her father.

"Then let's put her in our bed and see if she'll sleep through the night." he murmured, yawning languidly while she stirred in his arms. "You should get sleep too, Kushina, you've got someone else to worry about."

Kushina frowned at this, as if having to be reminded of her current pregnancy was hurtful. Not that having to take care of the child itself and instead having to take care of herself was agonizing, but the fact that it would take so long and that she wouldn't be able to work at all until her son or daughter was born. Being unable to work was already having a toll on her general mood, and she busied herself with things that she could still do: cooking everything, cleaning as much as she could, and—this was the usual one—worrying about everyone else to the point that she became angry when other people tried to tell her not to worry. She mostly blamed the hormones for that.

"Alright, but hurry up and get her under a blanket, too. She must be freezing wearing just that t-shirt," she muttered, her voice matching the gentle thrum of a calm ocean. Any fluctuation in their tones could wake Akari up, they knew from experience, so it would be best to remain gentle and submissive even if Kushina felt like beating a hole into her husband's head.

As if reading the redhead's negative emotions in her sleep, Akari cried out. It was muffled by Minato's chest, but her screams were still loud enough to drown out the silence that had engulfed the house. Breathless thuds down the staircase could be heard as Kushina sighed wearily. It appeared that they couldn't hide the distressed girl for long as Kakashi made his appearance, yawning while he held his hands out to his sensei.

"If it's alright with you, Minato-sensei, I'll take Akari with me to sleep. It's not such a hassle if she's quiet, and she causes too much trouble for you two already. She's my responsibility, after all." His half-awake eyes drifted up to the small child, his little sister. Akari was shivering violently now, so much that her eyes flitted open as she buried herself deeper into the warmth of Minato's chest.

"I want a blanket," Kushina grabbed Akari's beloved Kitsune-y from the couch, handing him to Kakashi off-handedly and pulling the child from Minato's hands.

"If you want to take care of Akari, Kakashi, you should start acting like it. She'll sleep with us tonight." Her word was final, and no one would go back on it. It was like a contract being laid down as she spoke, and each word was being engraved into a stone for eternity. Her word was law in this house. Kakashi couldn't refuse to ignore her, even if he tried.

Akari liked them better anyway—she always had and certainly always would. It was like trying to compete with the love from a mother to her child; which was almost what she had become in this family. She had depended on them to help her—and maybe he had as well in the beginning, but by now he could afford an apartment for the two of them. Even with his meager earnings as a child and with his being only a chunin, his constant work had produced fruit. All he had to do was break the news to Akari, who would probably be none too fond of leaving the people she had called "family" thus far, and they could leave.

Of course, even with his plans there would be conflicts. There always were. There would be the problems of childcare during the days when she didn't have the Academy to go to; food to eat; someone to watch her and know how to take care of a child (as Kakashi was sorely lacking here, especially with the problem that potty-training was proving. It hadn't been too difficult during the day, but when she slept she often wet the bed and there was no way he could deal with that); and an uncountable other things that he had only brushed the surface on.

Who would pick her up every day from the Academy and make sure that she didn't get lost? He couldn't do that with his own training with Minato and his team. Who could make sure that she was eating correctly? Kakashi couldn't cook very well, and he wouldn't be able to wake up early enough to get his things together, make sure she was ready for the day, and fix three meals for them each. Who would be able to be patient with a child, when all Kakashi could feel lately was bitterness or annoyance?

When he faced reality, he wasn't good enough to take care of a child. _But_, he'd whine solely to himself, _it's not like I had ever wanted this. Akari's such a burden, and she likes it here better than anywhere that I could take her to. Besides, she needs to learn how to live on her own if she wants to be a shinobi. I'm only doing her a favor by not going easy on her._

But he couldn't deny it when he reminded himself that he _wanted _her to look up to him, instead of that crybaby Obito. He _wanted_ her to respect him, and treat him like a big brother, and maybe the whole idea of spending time with her was daunting, but he wanted her to be his family. Because in all reality, Kakashi was alone without her. It shouldn't mean that much to him, since he still sort of had Rin and Obito, and sure Minato-sensei and Kushina-san looked after him, but they weren't his family.

There would always be that bond that Kakashi could never break with her, no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't be completely emotionless as long as Akari was part of the picture. Kakashi couldn't help but love her, and he hated her for it.

He hated how she could smile so easily after having nightmares on the couch, how she loved to read books and get buried so deeply into them that it was nearly impossible to bring her back to reality, how she could find somewhere else to be in her mind when she stood beside him. He hated how she could be happy, while he had the crushing truth shoved onto him and burdening him this whole time. Why should he have to carry this everlasting weight while she can walk free and be so damned happy about everything?

Kakashi's arms numbly fell to his sides. Akari had stopping whining in her sleep. Kushina shot him a look that he didn't care to decipher. Minato patted his head and ruffled his hair just as his father used to do. It was all nauseatingly reminiscent of a better time.

* * *

There are many people in our planet who will tell you that the world is a beautiful glimpse at a lifetime of joy; a life before nothingness, and a means of escaping that which follows death. There are also those who believe in a life after their death; a heaven or home where each day is paradise.

The truth is probably somewhere between these two extremes. Perhaps this world is mere darkness, and the humans and animals who fondle about in the shadows of it are puppets pulled along on strings by…by something. The cosmos, providence, a capital-G God, perhaps even destiny; although many tend to think of it as fate. Fate is a winding chord that the people are dancing around on—the path our life is to take, the future that we cannot see on our shadowy earth, even the movements that we make as puppets. It is our future, our past, our present, our minds, our souls, our hearts, our everything all coiled up and always longing for something more.

Our fates are the strings that hold us up, keep us moving, and barrel us forward into the unknown which has yet to come. They glow with our attributes, and brighten with our traits, and they mark out how we live and our given duties during the course of our lives. When those strings finally break, and we are unable to stand anymore, we have lost our purpose. We no longer have a destiny, and our fate is sealed. Death is imminent. This is simply how life works.

When the strings held by our mysterious puppeteer are broken, something comes to take our souls. They are valuable, perhaps even re-usable substances of immense power and potential. The puppeteer bends them into new souls to fit new puppets, and new lives are born with new strings of fate attached.

Unless, of course, a soul has been broken. Souls with no potential serve no purpose, and I believe that those are cast away—maybe to a paradise called heaven, or maybe to nothingness called death. I think that those souls, which are polluted and perverted from their original form, become the smog that shrouds the earth in darkness and make the futures of those of us that are living much harder to see. I believe that they, themselves, are the shadows on earth; cast down and useless and utterly broken.

It's poetic, when you think about it. We're all "pulled along by the strings of fate," so to speak. And without a fate, we are utter emptiness. Without a purpose, our lives are meaningless. Without someone or something to live by, we are nothing.

Having a purpose is living. Without one, we are dead men walking. Without purpose, we are empty voids that float along in the wind, yearning for a reason to be alive. Pining for an answer to our existence. Lusting for something that no one can achieve. This is, most simply, human nature.

Still, our winding strings pull us forward, and we cannot flee the call of our fate.

* * *

**A/N: I'm so sorry for letting this drag out for so long! I really didn't mean to do this, but I guess that I'll update every month around this time. The good news about that is that you should be able to pick up on the pattern and check in at the end of every month, and I've got the next 8-10 chapters already planned out. The bad news is that I don't know how often I'll be able to write it, and my Dropbox has been acting up so it isn't syncing with my computer-which means that it'll take a little longer for me to write these things out. Hopefully with more breaks coming out soon, I'll be able to write more and get these things out to y'all quicker.**

**QUESTIONS/REQUESTS FOR MY DEAR READERS!**

**1. I need a name for a female character. She's strong-willed, a music-lover, and I'm thinking she'll be from an artisan village. Names and meanings of the names would be wonderful, and you can put it in a review or as a message directly to me.**

**2. What do you think of Akari? I want her to be human, so I'm going to pick at her weak spots for a while, but do you have any odd quirks you want to see her with? And if you want to see her with another character, please let me know so that I can think about that when I write. Your input is VERY important to me!**

**3. Anything you want to see with this? Any questions you have? Anything you want to say? Advice? Compliments? Hate for how long this took? Anything is accepted, as long as it's not just "I hate this because it's stupid," or "this story looks like it was written by a three-year old." **

**Thanks so much, my lovely readers~!**


	4. 4 Side-tracked and Led Astray

**Ah~ Here we are again my beloved readers! Here's what I have produced for my new chapter (and though not exactly within a short wait period, I got it to you two weeks earlier than I thought I would. Is this good enough for a thanks, my Japanese Dictionary?)**

**Anyway, I'd like to thank:**

**kanna-yamamoto for favoriting my story,**

**Littlebirdd for following and reviewing,**

**B. for following,**

**And ShikiUploadz for your wonderful suggestions and help with picking out names!**

* * *

Somehow, it always came to this. Akari, flinging her lunchbox from one side to the next while holding on to her beloved (and recently washed and fixed) stuffed animal, Kitsune-y and her bag handing haphazardly off of her shoulder, was walking to school by herself. Minato-jisan and Kakashi had left before she woke up, apparently, and Kushina-bachan had left a note behind saying she had the food ready for her to take in the fridge and that she went to the doctor's for a checkup.

Obito-kun had stopped by this morning, mostly to see her and ask if she wanted a hand getting to school, but then realized that he was supposed to be out training with his team and apologized before leaving her behind. At least he had the decency to say sorry before running off without her. It was more than she could say for everyone else.

Akari knew how to get to her classroom by heart, though. It was room D-404, the room for rapidly advancing academy students and those who would be tested soon for the possible promotion to genin. It was amazing, thinking that she could graduate at the age of four years old, and that she could become a big kid and take care of herself while others three times her age were still working at getting out and becoming actual shinobi. She wouldn't have to burden Minato-ji or Kushina-ba anymore, and she would be able to have her own money and an actual team like Obito and Kakashi and Rin. And she could have friends that she trusted with her life, too—not like the people who sometimes shove her in the halls at the Academy or pick on her because of her stuffed toy. And not people who felt like they had to take care of her, like Kakashi and Obito, but people who actually _cared _about her.

It would be a lot of work, passing the exams, but Akari practiced in the time that she had out back before Minato and Kakashi came home at about 7 for dinner. And the things that she had no need to practice—genjutsu and handsigns, for example—were stashed away in her mind for later use or reviews in class.

The road she traveled on was made of gravel, and it felt odd even when she wore her sandals—which were dangling from her fingers precariously because she had to take them and wear them during school hours. Every now and then a sharp rock jutted out or scraped into the soles of her feet, and she'd wince but carry on anyway. Akari knew very well how scratched up her feet would be by the end of the day, but if she got the pain over with now then she could form callouses on her feet and never have to deal with them getting scraped up by her shoes because they'd be thick and coarse. She read that little fact in a book she recently finished.

The Academy building loomed overhead much like any other building, except for the many floors and the sign that sat above the doors to welcome new students. The walls were white on the outside and inside, a little fact that annoyed Akari with the lack of color that it provided. At least the wooden floors were interesting to trace with the eyes, and Akari usually counted the crevices in them twice during the day. They were marbled with alternating shades of brown, and stretched across the floor in different sizes. Maybe if she was careful enough, she could sneak her manga onto her lap and read it—though it would be a little impossible with Kaoru-sensei's sharp eyes and her being seated near the front because she was so small.

Her teacher was quite a bit taller than many of the students, and quite a bit older than most still-living shinobi. His expression was a default of sternness, and his dark eyes only echoed his serious face and the deeply-set wrinkles and curved frown. His head was growing bald, and there were worry lines across his forehead. Along with these observations that Akari had made, Kaoru-sensei was always right and there was no arguing with him. If he said that your shuriken was off by one millimeter, you'd have to fix it immediately or risk being put in a lower-level classroom only to have to take his class once again the next term. There was no getting out of taking his class: Akari knew this from experience, as she had been pulled from his class earlier that year, when she was still just three-and-a-half, and had only been put back into his class this semester.

Suddenly, the ground turned into smoother asphalt and she realized that her trek to the school was about to be over. Just a few more meters before she could get inside and climb the floors to room D-404, and then she could possibly read a little before starting her lesson of the day. Only a few more meters…

The asphalt that she had been walking on met her face in a split moment, and immediately the side of her head and her shoulder exploded into pain. Akari could feel tears pricking in the corners of her eyes, but held them in for the sake of her pride. Her bookbag had been knocked off her shoulder, and everything she had carried was strewn across in an impact zone from one to five meters away. Blood began to drip from the cuts that she had sustained from the pavement, and she blearily glared at whoever had run into her, as her sight had been blurred since she hit her head.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there—do you need some help up, kid?" At this distasteful person's apology, Akari glowered and picked herself up _without _his help. Her head hurt really badly, and she had to close her eyes so that she wouldn't start crying because of the light that couldn't filter through her bleary vision.

"You jerk! _Ne_, watch where you're going next time, _baka_!"

"I said I was sorry!" He answered tersely, falling into the same mood that Akari was in: generally upset and spiteful. "If I walk you to class or something, will that make everything better? Well actually, now that I look at you, you look like you should go to the hospital."

"I'm fine, idiot! Now leave me alone before I really beat you up for this whole thing, _ne_!" The boy sort of laughed at that, and his face slowly filtered through her dilating and constricting pupils.

The first thing she noticed about him was that he was a lot taller than she was-maybe ten or twelve? His hair was dark brown and pulled back in a spiky ponytail, while a grin that she was used to seeing on a certain Uchiha's face glistened back at her. His skin was really tan, and his eyes were half-closed, but Akari could still see the dark brown color in his eyes—as if his whole body had been baked in mud or something.

"That's cute, thinking an adorable thing like you could beat me up when you're probably three and maybe half my size. But since I did run into you, I would feel bad if I just left a little girl to walk to her class on her own! Anyway, what room should I take you to? A-2 for first years?"

"I can get to my own class by myself, you idiot! And for your information, I'm going to room D-404, _ne_," She shouted back, hiding her smugness at his shock behind a stony scowl. It was a common thing when she told people how quickly she had advanced in such a short time. Of course, if it was Kakashi whom she was being compared to, then there would be no doubt that she was falling behind. She'd never be able to get his attention—or Obito's, for that matter—at this rate. If she couldn't become their equals quickly, they'd leave her behind in the dust yet again.

Her thoughts were pried apart as the boy insisted that he take her to her class.

"I said I was sorry for running into you, please let me make it up to you by walking you to class!"

"And _I _said to buzz off, loser. I can get to class on my own without any help, _ne_."

"But it would make me feel better if I helped you out some way."

"I don't care, just leave me alone!"

"But there has to be _something _I can do. Do you need something to stop the bleeding? I could give you something to put pressure on the scrapes, if you want."

"I'm fine, go bother someone else!"

"But you're hurt, and if you go to class like that it'll look like I beat you up or something, and I don't want people getting the wrong idea."

"A loser like you couldn't even leave a scratch on me if we fought!"

"How can you say that when I managed to scrape up your face and shoulder up just by running into you? You know, I'm not sure if I believe that you're really in that advanced class. You probably just said that to make me feel bad, or to impress me or get me to leave you alone-is that why you don't want me to walk you to your class?"

"Can't you take a hint, you bastard?! I am fine by myself, and I _don't _need you to walk me to class, or any other help you could give me! Just leave me alone, _ne_!"

Iruka stood silent, listening to her before a curt grin spread across his features.

"A little girl like you shouldn't be using that sort of language, Miss…I just realized I don't even know your name. Well then, let's start fresh. I'm Umino Iruka, and I'm in class C-2 with Chou-sensei as my teacher." Akari wrinkled her nose at that, frowning at how he was trying to get close to her. He was certainly annoying, but…truthfully a little attention had been what she was craving recently. Being ignored all the time wasn't her forte-not that she'd ever tell anyone that.

"Hatake Akari, class D-404 with Kaoru-sensei as my teacher. It's none of your business what kind of language I use, _ne_." She spun so that her back faced him and began picking up her things and dusting them off. Her plush fox was carefully stuffed into her bag, and she placed that back onto her shoulder (the one that she hadn't fallen on, as it still stung from its kiss with the concrete). Iruka handed her her lunchbox, and she snatched it from his hands waspily. "I don't need your help, either. Or anyone's, for that matter. I can take care of myself."

Iruka eyed her condescendingly, his pride getting the better of him as he couldn't repress his response. "You're sure your parents would approve of you saying that?" Akari eyed him icily, but her heart wasn't in it and it showed in her dull eyes as she wondered what her parents would actually think of her if they could see her.

"I don't have parents," Came her sullen reply, and she began to walk away as Iruka began his array of apologies. He trailed her closely, leaning over a little to speak to her on her shorter level as they walked.

"I am so sorry—I honestly didn't know that. I wouldn't have said anything—I promise I wouldn't have said that if I had known! Let me make it up to you by walking you to class, please, Akari-chan?"

"For the last time, I don't want you walking me to my class! And don't call me Akari-chan, _ne_. It's too personal, and you're not my friend."

"Do you even have any friends?" Iruka wondered aloud, causing his younger companion to fume once again.

"Of course I have friends!" _Well, _she internally mended, friend_ is more like it. I have Obito, and maybe Rin on a good day and I'm feeling gracious to her._

"Who? Why aren't _they_ walking you to class, then?"

"Because I don't need anyone to walk me to class, _ne_!"

"Who are your friends?" Akari looked at the wall to her right, following classes and signs posted in the hallways with her eyes. She ignored him until there was no choice but to answer his prodding.

"Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara." The older boy nodded at this new information, finding a new place beside her as they walked up the three flights of stairs to Akari's classroom.

"Hey Akari, you said you didn't have any parents, but do you have any family you're living with now? Like, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, older siblings—anything ringing a bell?" She shook her head.

"I live with friends of my family, though. My big brother comes by sometimes, but he doesn't talk to me much and he doesn't take care of me, _ne_. I don't think he likes me very much."

"Your big brother, huh? What's he do when he's not seeing you? Is he old enough to work and own his own place?"

"He's a ninja, like my Papa was. Niisan used to help train me when I was a baby, but now that I'm four I get to train myself since he's never around to help me out. Uncle and Auntie sometimes help me because they're ninja, too, but now they're really busy with work and stuff."

"Now I really feel bad for bumping into you and making you fall; that's so sad."

"_Ne_, I don't need your pity, loser!"

"Hey Iruka," a soothing voice called from behind the bickering black-haired girl and the remorseful older student. Akari turned to glance at the addresser over her shoulder and saw a head of light brown hair. His eyebrows were coarse and darker than his sandy locks, and his eyes were carved into the stone fixture that was his face. If Iruka was around ten, then this guy had to be a teenager with his strong build. She wondered briefly if he had already graduated. "What's this arguing about? Is everything alright?"

Iruka grinned joyously, wrapping an arm around the newest member of their ever-growing group. Akari rolled her eyes at that thought, wishing she had never let him follow her up the stairs. One other student was annoying enough, but what would this guy be like?

"I'm just walking Hatake-san here to class because I knocked her over outside and felt bad about it. You wanna walk with us too, Mamoru? Her class is D-404, so it should be right next to yours."

"If it's alright with Hatake-san, I'd be happy to." He seemed much more polite than Iruka, but Akari couldn't help the nagging sensation that she should just leave them both behind in her dust. She didn't have the time to deal with annoyances like them.

And yet, she couldn't just leave them. This attention—whether initially unwanted or not—felt good. Akari had already discovered that her only friend was truly Obito, but he hardly spent time with her. She couldn't remember the last time she had asked him to play a game with her and he actually said yes. At the funeral, Obito had told her that they were friends, but was she really just a hindrance to him? Was she just a burden for everyone?

"Fine, you can walk with us, too. But this had better not become an everyday thing, _ne_."

Akari was selfish, and she knew it too. If she hadn't been, then she would've ran away or stopped bothering the people who took care of her. But she was happy getting that attention and taking their love, even if it meant she wasn't the perfect shinobi like her big brother. She would continue being a burden for as long as she could. Because at least then, she knew that she was burdening people who would gladly love her for it. They wouldn't leave her behind, and she trusted them to lean on. People like Minato-jisan and Kushina-bachan and Obito-kun, they were the people she loved and they were the people who loved her because they wouldn't complain if she became their burden.

Her strings were tugging her in many different directions, and it didn't matter whether they led her to destruction or peace for she followed the path before her relentlessly. The road would be long and difficult for her, but she would trudge ahead as long as the path was there for her to pace. This was her destiny, and these people she met had to be a part of it. Only time would shed a light on the next few steps in her journey.

* * *

_"__Alright, since you were so eager to wake up at the crack of dawn, I suppose we had better get started. Do you have your kunai knives?"_

_"__Yep!" She chirped animatedly, pulling the tools out to show her father as they checked them off mentally._

_"__How about bandages?"_

_"__Check!"_

_"__And shuriken?"_

_"__Yes,"_

_"__How about Kitsune-y?" Akari indignantly snorted._

_"__Of course, papa. When have I ever not had Kitsune-y?"_

_"__Just checking. What about our lunch?" She held up a bag, filled with rice cakes and some sorts of dumplings that had looked good last night at the market. Impatience was catching up to her as she huffed and quipped at his constant inquiries._

_"__Got it. Can we go now?" Her father chuckled at her eagerness._

_"__Yes, yes. Kakashi's already out on his mission for the day with Rin and Obito…I don't see a point in keeping you here any longer." His lips curved upward sharply into a smile that showed only trouble. "Unless…"_

_"__Unless—?" Her query was shut off by her giggles as she was lifted high above his head by his outstretched arms as she was placed on his shoulders with her hands in his hair as the only rein she had to hold onto. "Yay! Let's go, papa! To the training field! Hurry up, you go too slow! Pick up your feet! It's gonna be all day before we even get there, tōtan!"_

_"__Alright, you asked for it!" His daughter clung to his neck as he raced off towards the unused and blatantly desolate training field, squealing with delight as the wind whipped her dual ponytails around her face like kunai that clawed at her skin. However, she was numb to them; in fact, all she could feel was the jubilance that spending a day with her father brought her. Already she could feel adrenaline in her blood as her excitement grew exponentially._

All day, and it's just me and my papa…

* * *

_"__Your aim is a bit off, so try throwing a bit above the mark to counteract that." The child nodded, bangs aflutter as she did so. Her arm was beginning to feel sore, and her fresh muscles ached from the effort as she aimed and threw again and again. She could hardly feel them over her innate excitement, though, and what she could sense meant nothing as long as her father was there with her. Akari could endure through anything as long as her papa got another day off to spend with her._

_Things like this-this whole "day off", "break for three days", "no missions at all"-only occurred once every blue moon, and even then his days were usually spent resting at home with as little activity as possible. He had to keep his energy for important missions, and had subsequently been neglecting his youngest child altogether. At least she enjoyed spending time with Kakashi, who hadn't cared one way or another about attention from their father. Kakashi was more of someone who relished in the mere presence of a loved one; who didn't need any responsiveness, as long as he knew his family was safe and at home._

_"__Here, those kunai look a little heavy for you. Why don't you try these?" Sakumo held his hands out, showing her what he had pulled from his bag. She interrogated him with her gaze, her eyebrows moving questioningly together as she wondered curiously what he held._

_"__Needles? What'm I s'posed to do with those, papa?"_

_"__They're called senbon, and they're throwing needles. They're a lot smaller than kunai, so it should help with your aim and the speed. Go ahead and take them, but be careful because unlike a kunai those have two sharp edges." Akari nodded, and began to shoot at the target once more. Her aim, as Sakumo predicted, was getting extraordinarily better._

_"__So when're you gonna show me how to fix my handsigns into somethin' cool? Kashi-nii showed 'em to me, but he didn't tell me how to use 'em." Her fingers twisted into a tiger seal, before shifting into a boar and several others before Sakumo could look back to her from the target he had created, which now had a senbon jutting from its center. A perfect bull's-eye._

_"__Hm, well first we're going to have to see what chakra nature you have. I've got a hunch that yours is the same as Kakashi's, because this nature often runs in the family, but you act so different from Kakashi that I'm going to let you try this out." Akari curiously shot him a questioning glance as he reached around to wrench a square of some paper out of his individual bag._

_"__A piece of paper? Is that s'posed to turn into somethin' cool or somethin'? Oh, I know! You're gonna use it for some awesome jutsu and you're gonna show me how to! That's so cool, papa!"_

_"__Not exactly." Akari's cheerful disposition turned sour as she glowered at the item held in his outstretched hand._

_"__So it really is just a piece of paper?"_

_"__It's a special kind of paper that can tell which chakra nature you have because it was made from a tree that lives off of chakra. You'll need to hold it and funnel your chakra into it so that I can know what to do with you for the rest of training." Eagerly, Akari moved to grab the paper with her tiny fingers before she plopped onto the ground with a soft thud._

_"__Funnel my chakra, _ne_? How do I do that?"_

_"__I trust that Kakashi has taught you chakra control?" A nod was his reply before he continued on with an explanation. "Well, it's like you're trying to move the chakra to your feet, except you shift it to your hand and out into the paper. Just picture it in your head," The child closed her eyes tightly in hopes that it would work faster, interestedly peeking every few seconds to make sure that it hadn't changed before huffing and closing her eyes to try again._

_"__I think it's beginning to react to your chakra, so keep it up." The encouragement from her father was the only thing that she was sure could make her concentrate even harder on a piece of paper. Nevertheless, she clenched her lids shut and persevered through the unbearable silence._

_Her lapis eyes cracked open to spot her papa's face, but the look of bewilderment featured there was enough to make her look at the paper in her hand. It hadn't changed much at all._

_"__That's odd, I could even see your chakra around the paper. Hold it out and let me see," It was when she followed his order that he saw it, barely visible and almost impossible to discern from the rest of the page._

_A circle, perfectly rounded and shaped, was bleeding onto the page. Like an ink marking, it dribbled down a bit before it coated the entire paper and left the white circle in the center a blank area. Carefully the ink created a curved line to separate the circle into two halves, coloring in one side black while the other remained undisturbed. When all but a miniscule circle in the shaded area remained, a patch of black fused into the white teardrop shape and stood on its own apart from the shadows around it._

_Akari gasped at the perfect yin-yang sign it created, almost dropping the page altogether if it hadn't been for her father's hands gripping her wrists and plucking the sheet from her._

_"__Is that supposed to happen, tōtan?"_

_"__I've never seen anything like it. Usually a physical change occurs to the paper, not an odd marking like that. It must've been a fluke or something, so let's try it again." Her striking electric blue eyes sparked at his request, but she didn't dare object as long as her father would be here with her._

_Another paper, with a different result. The page instead wrinkled before burning away and fluttering to the ground as ashes. Sakumo chuckled at Akari's mortified expression, relieved at the different conclusion._

_"__I-I didn't mean to, papa, but the paper just…it just went poof! I didn't mean to set it on fire; I don't even know how that happened!"_

_"__It's okay, that's supposed to happen. That means that you have a fire affinity, just like your mother." Akari lowered her eyes as she began to think._

_"__Then what kinda 'ffinity does Kashi-nii have?"_

_"__Kakashi has a lightning affinity, which he gets from me. Usually this sort of thing is a genetic trait-which means that you get it from your mother or father-and I suppose that the first paper was just a chance occurrence. Don't worry about it too much," She nodded, and listened to her father begin his sermon on what kinds of handsigns would be most appropriate for her to use and what jutsus would be good for her to learn._

_Akari sighed, though eager to hear anything her father said, and got comfortable in the lush grass of the clearing._

* * *

_Dusk rolled by before either could even think of rest, and Akari had just begun to learn the many different handseals that could be used with her tiger sign to make fire jutsu. Each time she'd try on her own, a mere spark would form in her hands before burning itself out and leaving her with less chakra after each attempt. She could feel her breaking point, but forced herself closer to it each time nevertheless._

_"__Akari, stop adding that extra handsign. I think it's causing an overflow of chakra, which will disrupt the jutsu before you can even do anything with it." Sakumo instructed, watching her nod resignedly before making an attempt at it again. Once more, the flare spluttered before blowing away as smoke. Her father placed a gargantuan hand on her shoulder, gripping her attention as he turned her from her previous concentration. "I think it's time to go home now."_

_"__No! I can do it, tōtan, just a little longer—"_

_"__You're going to wear yourself out by doing that, and it won't do you any good to continue. You've done well enough today, Akari, but I think we should go home for dinner. It's late, anyway, and sleep will do you good. We can come back out tomorrow, alright?" She grinned earnestly, grabbing the hand which rested on her shoulder with her seemingly infinitesimal fingers._

_"__Okay, papa! That'll make me very happy!" The corners of her eyes crinkled in her beam, her teeth hardly showing but still peeking out from under her lips, and her face radiated the purest form of euphoria._

"Akari-san, snap out of it and throw your kunai! You'll only have today to practice in class before the test tomorrow, and I don't expect that you'll pass if you're just gazing off at whatever other place your mind is in right now." Akari nodded through grit teeth, despising the way that Kaoru-sensei talked to her. Though she was young, she had enough talent to become a genin—like most of the children in her class, all she had to do was wait for the next exam and then she could pass right on through into the big world. Still, her teacher was never happy with what she did. Even if Akari reached perfection (which she was certainly far from in any field), she doubted he could hold back his criticism.

He was like that with a lot of the girls in the class. Tanaka Ayane, the previously leading girl in taijutsu at the school, was always being dragged down by him even when her form was completely accurate and efficient. "You need more power," he'd offhandedly mention, "You're wasting your energy," "Kick higher," "Punch with your whole body, not just your arm," and so on until not even sweet Ayane could feign a smile and work through it. Kaoru-sensei had made her break down and cry on more occasions than Akari could remember. She had left the class before this term had started, though, so Akari hadn't seen Ayane since then. Not that they had been friends or anything beforehand, but Ayane had at least been polite when they worked together in team exercises.

Now that Akari thought about it, lots of girls had been leaving the school for one reason or another. Some had little siblings to take care of, some had a house to clean, some had a paying job that they had to do, and some were even being shipped off to marry into better families—even though it wasn't technically legal until a girl was 16. There was an issue with making and keeping money, especially with the war going on and the limited supplies and everything.

Kaoru-sensei's constant berating of the girls in the class didn't exactly help the masses stay in the Academy. Of course, maybe if he would stop treating the girls like crap because they wanted to help out their village by becoming shinobi, they would actually stop dropping out and becoming half-rate hospital staff or broke merchants. If it wasn't for the thought that she could definitely rub some salt in his wounds when she not only graduated from his class, but also became a high-ranking shinobi (which she would make sure would happen) coupled with her immense willpower, she would've already talked to someone about moving to the other final-term class.

"Loosen up, Akari-san: you look like you're having a seizure when you throw!" She ground her teeth and held in a snarky comment. She knew from experience that it would only mean more work for her and more yelling from Kaoru-sensei. The kunai slipped from one hand to the other, and she shook out her limbs before practicing her throws once more.

"Akari!" Her teacher's harpy voice drilled, causing her to tense and miss the target as the knife left her hand. "Use your right hand, like I showed you how to do it in the example. You missed the target because your left hand doesn't have as good aim as your right one. Go pick up the kunai that missed the target, and try again. Do it right this time."

"Yes, Kaoru-sensei."

"And wipe that grimace off your face before I make you stay after school to clean the classroom. Maybe that'll put you in your place."

"Yes, Kaoru-sensei." As soon as he turned his back to chastise another girl for her improper form, Akari stuck her tongue out and blew him a raspberry. She calmly walked towards the shaved wooden target, feeling the grass against her feet as she had already slipped her shoes off.

It really was a beautiful day, even if it was a bit chilly and she probably should've worn something warmer than her typical black shorts, long ivory socks, and frayed cobalt t-shirt. The sun shone with a warmth that enveloped her inside and out, and if Kaoru-sensei hadn't disturbed her, she would've been content just sitting there in her own sunshine and cinnamon-flavored daydream.

To humor him, she threw a kunai with her right hand instead of the left she had been using. Seeing how she was unused to the motion, the kunai spun wildly in the air instead of straight forward and fast. Checking over her shoulder, Akari switched hands to her mostly dominant one and threw with her left hand until almost every kunai had been driven into the wooden target with a dull thud. The rest of the weapons lay beside her feet on the rough earth.

The class would be over soon, and the test tomorrow would be a breeze (mostly because it wouldn't be Kaoru-sensei judging her kunai-throwing abilities, but another teacher who would "be an impartial judge on behalf of the students"). She had nothing to worry about except what she had packed in her bag for lunch, which came next.

"Hey, Akari-chan," a timid voice murmured, causing said female to jump from her dazed stupor. She spun around to the direction of the voice, biting her lip anxiously before wondering why that boy from earlier was talking to her. Honestly, didn't he understand that she had only let him walk with her because he made Iruka shut up?

"Hi Mamoru-kun." He crept closer, watching her pick up a kunai with her foot and kick it into the air before she grabbed it and bore it fiercely. She thanked kami that she hadn't messed it up, especially since she had practiced doing that about twenty times after school yesterday and had only done it without hurting herself three times.

"You're really good at throwing kunai," he murmured, watching in awe at what he thought was a perfectly mastered trick. "Could you help me out? I'm not very good at ninjutsu, but Kaoru-sensei's too busy with those girls over there to give me any advice. He said that I'm doing well enough, but my form's pretty bad and I can tell. How do you throw so well?" Akari flushed a little at the compliment, but kept it to herself and smirked haughtily.

"I've been training to be a ninja ever since I could walk! And not only that, but I've also got it in my blood. My papa was a great shinobi, and my niisan is too, and papa used to tell me that my mama was, too, but I don't know since I never saw her. My papa told me that since I'm not strong enough to throw kunai well, and my aim's not right, that I should throw higher than the target, so I always aim for the top of the wooden circle over there. Try that and see if it works for you, too."

He nodded, doing as she had commanded. The kunai spun in the air, and though it hit the wooden target, it did not stick.

"Don't throw it overhanded. You have to swing it from side to side so that it doesn't flip like that. And put more power into it so that you can make it go straight. You control it, so you have to know exactly where you want it to go and what you want it to do."

"I control it? But I thought that the wind and other elements would make it go a different direction, or knock it off-balance so that it spins another way. Don't you have to worry about the weather, for instance?"

"No, if you use enough force, it doesn't matter. Watch me," Akari cherry-plucked a kunai from the bundle still resting beside her feet, and she threw it sideways, hitting the target directly above the bull's-eye. "Like that."

Mamoru stared interestedly before glancing down at his own hands in shame. "We only have a week left in school before the final exam, and I never knew how to throw a kunai correctly until now."

"I only learned right because my papa showed me when I was a baby, so I practiced a whole bunch with him and on my own. I don't listen to Kaoru-sensei, because most of the time I already know what's happening and since my papa was a lot better of a teacher than him, I just ignore whatever he says."

"Even so. I started this past January at the beginning of the semester thinking that it would be so easy to pass this class since, you know, Kaoru-sensei is a lot nicer to boys than girls because guys have fought as shinobi for a lot longer than girls have and he's really old so that reminds him of his childhood or something. But I'm finding out how little I actually know about being a shinobi every day."

Akari frowned, thinking silently to herself. _This guy is just gonna tell me all that? Does he really even know me well enough to be telling me this? And why does he even think that I'm interested—just because I let him walk me to our class this morning, he thinks we're actually friends! I guess that I asked for this, though…_

"Hey, Akari-chan, since we have different times for lunch for each class, and since I don't really know anyone else in here, would it be alright if I sat with you for lunch?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You're annoying." Mamoru frowned.

"You're not nice."

"I never said I was, _ne_."

"But you were nice this morning!"

"No, I was annoyed and wanted to get to class this morning."

"And you just helped me out!"

"Only because I felt like it that one time, _ne_."

"But I thought that since you let Iruka walk you to class you would be nice to me since we're friends. Besides, you don't have anyone to sit with either, I saw you walk to that old swing to eat by yourself outside last week."

"Iruka wouldn't leave me alone, and maybe I _like_ eating by myself. Ever think of that, _ne?_"

"No, because no one likes to be alone." Akari grimaced, mentally pointing out that he was technically right—she hated sitting by herself on the swing with only Kitsune-y and a book. She despised walking home alone, only to get inside and find a note on the counter because of some doctor's visit, or some late night of work. She loathed having to fight Rin for a sliver of attention. Perhaps most of all, she detested being shoved aside for whatever mission came next, with only a word or two muttered to her at best.

But she couldn't deny that it was a lot less of a hassle. If she was alone, she could read a book, or talk to Kitsune-y without second glances shot her way, or think about how pretty the sky is when the sun's at just the right angle in just the right season. Akari didn't have to worry about what others would think or do, or if they would leave her behind or stay with her. Being alone was a lot less difficult, especially when there wasn't anyone trying to become her friend.

* * *

The entrance to Konohagakure sat before her. After hours of being hunted through the kilometers of forestry surrounding the nearest Great Shinobi Village, she had finally made it to a safe haven. All she had to do was get inside, and sanctuary would be given to her after she was interrogated—just as she had read it would be like from the books she had found at home. It was a customary welcoming service for any newcomers who sought shelter or protection.

In her sixteen years of being alive and the three years she had spent imprisoned and as a slave, she had never seen such an awe-inspiring sight. She would be free at last, and she could have her own life without fear of being watched constantly or being worked to death or not having anything to eat. Of course, she had left her parents and younger siblings behind, but she could eventually go back to get them. As long as she was liberated, who was to say that her whole village couldn't be freed? But she was putting her plans before her actions, and she hadn't even walked in the Shinobi Village yet.

"Hey you!" A guard, she supposed, signaled her over to an odd-looking booth sort of shelter that hid two Konoha shinobi from her. "We're going to need to see some identification and know your purpose for entering the village. Do you know how early it is?"

The woman nodded, her face white as sweat dripped from her skin. She panted, and her tongue flicked out to wet her dried lips. She handed over her old hitai-ate from before she had been imprisoned, showing the four long streaks that had been crafted into the metal as a sign of her previous village.

"Here you go, now please let me in. Take me to whatever interrogation site you'll need me at, I'll provide my fullest consent and support, just don't force me to stay out here like a sitting duck." She grew insistent, and the two guards realized this before nodding and pulling out a pair of chains.

"We're going to put these chakra chains on you just to be sure that you don't try anything. You can take your matters up with our Interrogation Corps later, right now we'll get you into a protected home so that you can be watched over." The girl nodded, willing to take whatever chances she could. It didn't matter if the person she lived with would be benevolent or demanding, as she was more than ready to stretch out on a limb and reach for whatever help would be given to her. If this person showed any signs of hatred or disgust toward her, she could run again. It seemed that she was rather good at that.

* * *

**A/N: Okie dokie, so what'd you think? I love the reviews so far, but even more might cause me to consider getting these chapters done quicker ^^**

**Who is this odd recurring character whose name we still do not know? Is this another developing plot line on the side? I'm thinking about letting you guys in on the secret next chapter, so stay tuned for that!**

**Also, if anyone else has any requests for character names, I would be glad to hear them! I've got some pretty good ones in mind, but I want to see everyone's input. Remember, you can either respond in a review or as a message to me, and I'll probably answer within a day or two. I'm not critical about your submissions (or I hope not at least, I don't try to be mean :'Z), but I'd like to hear more from you guys.**

**Anywho~have a wonderful day/night/afternoon/whatever time it is when you're reading this, my beautiful readers! See ya next time~**


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